Game of the Month: Mine Shift

March 27, 2014

My oldest son spied the strategy board game, Mine Shift by Mindware, in the local toy store and decided then and there that he was going to save up his money to buy it.

When I realized yesterday I still hadn’t posted a game of the month for March (yes, I’m on top of things over here), I knew immediately that this should be the choice. I’m not exactly sure why he was drawn to it in the store. The colored marbles? The shifting tiles? In any case, Mine Shift now has an honored position on the “favorite games shelf” in the closet. He and I have been playing it together for several months now, but it was only just recently that his 5 year old brother began successfully playing it, too.

{Note: this is an unsponsored post, Mindware has no idea I’m touting their game. Affiliate links are included below.}

The overarching premise of Mine Shift is simple. Players must transfer their four gemstones from starting base to home base. They do so by performing three moves per turn, including turning and sliding tiles and moving the gemstones. Players must maneuver around impenetrable rock walls and obstacles that lie in their path.

Thoughts on playing Mine Shift with Kids:

Game play is relatively quick; each game takes about 15 minutes. Sometimes the kids play “2 out of 3″ games.

I do actually like it. It’s not the most exciting game in the world, but it’s also not a very long game so I don’t mind playing a couple of games in a row. It ranks way above “Candy Land”, for example!